Colin McRae’s dominating tribute STI on display at Autosport International

David Higgins and Craig Drew dominated the production class at Wales Rally GB with the NR4-spec Subaru WRX STI last month. Now the car built to pay tribute to Colin McRae will be on the Wales Rally GB/MSA British Rally Championship stand at Autosport International in the UK next month. The show is dedicated to motorsports professionals and enthusiasts featuring everything from Karting to Formula 1.

The Subaru WRX STI driven by Higgins featured a nostalgic livery that mirrored the one that was on McRae’s championship-winning Subaru in 1995. Rally fans can get up close and see the JRM-built car that was commissioned by Subaru of America and SRT USA. The WRX STI performed flawlessly in the wet and muddy conditions at Rally GB.

Higgins and Drew drove the WRX STI to a 20th place overall and a winning margin of more than five minutes in the production class at Wales Rally GB. It was a dominating performance for the Subaru NR4-spec WRX STI that is a slightly modified showroom STI. Group N (NR4) specification allows for a few safety modifications like a roll-cage, fuel cell, seats and belts. The car runs a factory engine, transmission, driveline, and most suspension parts. The only performance enhancements that are allowed on the cars are essentially dampers, brakes, and underbody protection.

SRT USA went to Rally GB to honor the late rally legend Colin McRae, and the Subaru WRX STI came away with a top 20 finish against much faster rally cars. Rally fans can see the production class-winning STI at Birmingham’s NEC on January 14-17 and the Wales Rally GB/MSA British Rally Championship exhibit will be at stand number 8435.

MSA British Rally Championship Manager, Iain Campbell, said, “We’re thrilled that we’ll have the McRae tribute Subaru WRX STI on our stand, because it was a real head turner at Rally GB and brought back a lot of good memories of 1995 for the fans on the Welsh stages.”

Source: JRM